1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a service provision system, an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, and a service provision method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An authentication method (which is called “single sign-on”) in which an authentication result from a predetermined authentication service system to which a user logs in with a single ID and password is trusted and a requested service is provided to the user while omitting authentication operations in connection with a plurality of predefined services is known.
For example, there is known in the art an authentication service system which sends, in response to an authentication request from a client device, a notification including generated authentication information to the client device, and receives from another authentication service system a checking request of the authenticity of the authentication information sent to the client device. See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-227891.
In the single sign-on, when the user has authentication information for logging in to the predetermined authentication service system, the user is able to use a service even if the user has no authentication information of a service provision system which provides the service.
However, in such a system, when the authentication service system stops operation, the user is unable to use the service provided from the service provision system with the authentication information from the authentication service system. In many cases, a normal user may have not stored (or not registered) the authentication information for logging in to the service provision system. In order to make use of the service in this situation, the user has to perform a difficult task, such as resetting the password.